Spooky season is all about the pumpkin spice latte, but for a season about sweet treats, shouldn’t pumpkin spice hot chocolate be the star of the show? For the past couple of years, I’ve been making pumpkin spice everything all throughout this time of year, and it’s really only now I feel that I’ve perfected the vegan pumpkin spice hot chocolate. I’m conscious about making something that tastes great, is plant-based, but is a little bit healthier than mainstream versions of pumpkin spice drinks. I love the Starbucks PSL as much as the next person, in fact, I’m obsessed with the PSL iced coffee! However, there’s so much sugar in those syrups, that I feel sick after drinking them. I wanted to make something sweet and spicy, that didn’t make me feel ill later. So without further ado, here’s my vegan pumpkin spice hot chocolate recipe.
Vegan Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate Recipe
Prep Time:
Less than 5 minutes
Cooking time:
Less than 10 minutes
Total:
Less than 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup/236ml of oat or plant-based milk of choice (tip: if you’re using the Innocent oat milk, give it a good shake before use, as lots of bits seperate and fall to the end)
- 1 tbs of pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp of nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp of allspice
- 40g of dark chocolate
- 1 & 1/2 tbs olden syrup or vegan sweetener of choice
These amounts are for one cup of hot chocolate, so increase the amounts to serve more people!
Optional:
- A pinch of salt
- Vegan-friendly marshmallows
- Dairy-free whipped cream
- A drop of vanilla essence
Method
I normally melt chocolate in a bowl, over a boiling pot to prevent burning, but I don’t think that’s necessary for this. The milk tends to save the chocolate from getting burnt.
This pumpkin spice hot chocolate recipe is so easy. All you have to do is measure out your ingredients, and heat them up together in a pot. It’s really that simple.
Cook on medium heat, until it’s on the brink of boiling point and then take it off. Stir regularly to ensure the pumpkin puree has completely dissolved and the chocolate is melted.
Put a mug or another put underneath a strainer, and strain so there’s not bits.
You can drink as it, as long as you give it another still to make sure it’s all even. But, you can take it a step further. If you own a handheld milk frother, now is the time to break it out. If you don’t, pour your drink into a French press and push the plunger up and down until the milk begins to froth. Here’s how to froth milk in a French press.
There we have it, a quick, somewhat healthy vegan pumpkin spice hot chocolate! If you like this you may also like my vegan gingerbread latte!
Nutritonal breakdown
The exact nutritional breakdown will vary depending on the what milk and chocolate you used, but generally it should fall close to the one below.
Halloween only comes once a year, so treat yourself!
| One cup of hot chocolate | |
|---|---|
| Energy | 1522.98KJ / 364cal |
| Fat | 17g |
| Carbohydrate | 47g |
| Sugars | 28.9g |
| Fibre | 1.8g |
| Protein | 3.91g |
| Salt | 124mg |